I recently saw an interview with a film director (name redacted) who said that “No one is nice.” That’s an unorthodox take, which almost makes me want to agree with it. I guess there’s some validity to it. Even the nicest of people can be triggered into a mean, defensive or angry posture. You know, we all have a ‘horrible’ button that was installed at some time in our youth. Some of these buttons have very specific activation rules, and aren’t likely to be tripped in most day-to-day goings-on. But for some people, their ‘horrible’ buttons are almost always ‘on’. So that is what we would call a horrible person.
All this is to say, that while no one is always nice, some people are nice most of the time. I have noticed that there are a few occupations or hobbies that increase the likelihood of niceness, and I’m going to throw them out here. See if you agree.
- Pet sitter.
Pet sitters can be unique and quirky, often somewhat introverted, but who doesn’t love a good “I” animal caregiver? I have found pet sitters to be astonishingly nice. They don’t care if your house is a mess, your dog smells like doritos, your cat only wants to drink Dasani water, your lizard needs to be placed on top of the refrigerator for 15 minutes every day … you get the idea. They really care about the animals, and they’re not only in it for the $$$. - Gardening people.
There’s something about people who care so much about making things grow. Is it a reverence for life, for the earth, for paying attention to the tiniest details and appreciating the results in an patient way? Is it a willingness to nurture, to anticipate a positive outcome? Is it that gardening is a slowing-down, contemplative activity? I don’t know why, but if you can get past (maybe) a bit of quirkiness, gardening people are usually nice.
A bit of an aside here. There are some folks who love animals, or plants, or whatever, way more than they like people. And they can be real jerks to humans. Advisory: these people are in need of major TLC, but you don’t have to provide it.